Keppra Rage?

I have been on Keppra for almost 11 years now and during that time I was also on Carbatrol. I was taken off the Carbatrol March 7th and since then Ive been experiencing alot of different emotions.

Anger, sadness, feeling of just not caring, no desire to even want to get up out of bed, crying spells, you name it, I have it!

Today was the worst! I felt like not even wanting to spend another day of dealing with this again!

I had to contact my dr, which he told me he thinks its Keppra Rage. He thinks that since my body was so use to the Carbatrol, that the carbatrol was like a sedative and helped with the irritability, and moods. Now that Im no longer on the Carbatrol, the emotions are getting worse!

Hi. I am on Keppra and was on Carbotrol. (Excuse the spelling.) I was on both of them at the same time. There were times that I felt the same way you do. I never heard of the Keppra Rage. I just thought it was me being depressed. I noticed that I do get depressed a lot though. But I had this depression way before the Keppra and Carbautrol.

I have learned to control it but there are moments when it does take over. 5 minutes after I read this I had someone call me and that person was a smart-mouth and since it is early I kind of went off. So it has its moments but can for the most part be controlled. My spouse says she can see a difference after a couple years.

__________________"Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be shattered before being ascertained." - Vladimir Nabokov

I've taken Keppra for 10 years now and have also experienced the "rage" of and on, not only while taking Keppra, but with other meds as well. After reading some of your other postings, it could be the Keppra or it may be the brain dealing with epilepsy by terrible mood swings that accompanies temporal lobe epilepsy.

I was on Keppra and was just PISSED OFF. Very touchy, very angry, easily agitated. LIttle things would set me off, and I couldn't control it. Ugh.

Originally Posted by momof3boys:

Has anyone experienced the Keppra Rage?

I have been on Keppra for almost 11 years now and during that time I was also on Carbatrol. I was taken off the Carbatrol March 7th and since then Ive been experiencing alot of different emotions.

Anger, sadness, feeling of just not caring, no desire to even want to get up out of bed, crying spells, you name it, I have it!

Today was the worst! I felt like not even wanting to spend another day of dealing with this again!

I had to contact my dr, which he told me he thinks its Keppra Rage. He thinks that since my body was so use to the Carbatrol, that the carbatrol was like a sedative and helped with the irritability, and moods. Now that Im no longer on the Carbatrol, the emotions are getting worse!

most people who know me have never seen me angry. When I was on keppra, I choked a girl during a argument. So I think that counts. Broke up with her because after thinking about it, it seemed out of character and I didn't want it to happen again. This was before I knew it was a side effect of the drug.

I got ahold of the dr and he thinks its Kepprage. I was on the Keppra and Carbatrol for over 11 years together before March of this year. After my video EEG, he took me off the Carbatrol and he thinks that since Ive been off of it, that the Kepprage is come on. The Carbatrol was like a sedative, he said it helped alot in controlling the kepprage to come about. He took me off cold turkey off both drugs when I was admited for the video EEG, but then put back on the Keppra XR. I started seeing the changes a few weeks after I was put back on the Keppra XR and since then its been like a roller coaster ride for me with the emotions.

Im waiting to hear back from the drs office. I spoke with the dr himself yesterday, he was the dr that was oncall, and he thinks I need to stay on the Lamictal and get my dose up to 100mgs twice a day, and once Im on that fully, he wants to wean me off the Keppra XR. I have a bottle left of the Keppra XR that will last for 2 weeks, and I already ordered a 6 months supply of the Keppra XR, but havnt picked it up yet. I called the pharmacy and told them Im waiting to hear back from the drs office as to whats going to take place with the Keppra. I dont want to pick up the 6 month supply and only use a certain amount of it. So, til I hear back from the drs office, I will just try to keep as calm as possible. The dr said its best to avoid as much stressful situations as I can.... but having three kids under the age of 6 and a lazy husband, doesnt do me any good!

Well it seems that there is an issue with this Keppra. I hope that more study's will take place over this drug. I to feel very similar to the feeling's of anger,depression, and a multiple of other feeling's.

This does seem to effect a lot of people this way. Is there is possibility that this drug could cause some one to go right over the edge and really hurt some one. I sure hope not. If one does want to get of this drug what is the alternative? Different medication with other side effects. Where does it stop.

I guess I am getting frustrated at all the different chemicals that I am putting in my body. There has to be some what of a reasoning why this is all happening but that is the big question.

My family is also getting frustrated with my mood swings and anger issues. I want to get be off Keppra but that means changing prescriptions and not driving.I drive for a living so it is a difficult decision.

Sorry for the rant but this is the only place that fully understands the meat and potatoes of my issues. Thanks.

Hi. :-) Yes, I've experienced Kepprage on & off. It also depends upon my Monthly Visitor (women will know what I mean) & how well I've slept. I tell my mom that it's due to medication, but my mom says I'm just making up a story & it's due to my wild imagination. I wish she would understand.

I first began taking 500 mg of Keppra twice a day, after my first two seizures, which occurred half an hour apart, in 2008, at the age of 24 (or 23?). I had had no prior seizure or aura, etc. history since then - besides a steadily increasing sense of deja vu in the months leading up to my first seizures. My neurologist is the head of Neurology at Brown University Med School and I trust him implicitly. 100%.

In any event, I had no ill effects caused by starting the Keppra besides, of course, the Kepprage. I would become irritated to the point of snapping angrily at those around me about the most minute things. The most frustrating thing about this entire experience was that I knew it was the Keppra that was causing my irrational irritation - that I was not [I]really [/[I]] annoyed at my family, my friends, my boyfriend in real life --- and of course that made everything even more irritating. Knowing this irrational anger resided inside of me was so frustrating. I consider myself to be a fairly, at least, rational person, and having this utterly illogical rage and anger instead of me was probably one of the most aggravating things I have ever had to deal with. I began to take B4 and B6 vitamin supplements, which seemed to help, and I would say that after about approximately three or four months on Keppra, my body became accustomed to it. I don't get the same Keppragey feeling I used to in the past (anxiety and deja vu if I forget to take it, yes, but rage and irascibility, no) and I no longer take the daily vitamin B supplements (fortunately depression for me has never been a problem).

For anyone experiencing Kepprage, I would most certainly recommend giving the vitamin supplements a shot. They helped me a lot, and I daresay that if my boyfriend at the time hadn't been so understanding, our relationship would have ended a long time before it did (when it did end, it was due to reasons not related to my epilepsy).

The Following User Says Thank You to crimsonrhodelia For This Useful Post:

I have absolute irrational rage but I attibute it to being preictal--just the chance that someone might touch me is enough to flip me out uncontrollably--I am holding it in to the point of shaking--I cant even answer the phone or open my mouth I am so enraged

I started taking Keppra 500mg twice daily in Sept. 2010 and increased to 1000mg twice daily in Oct. 2010. At that time, I was already taking Paxil 20mg daily, Welbutrin 150mg daily, and Xanax 0.25mg twice daily. As soon as I was diagnosed with seizures, I was immediately taken off of the Welbutrin, but stayed on the rest. I remained calm about everything...too calm to put it lightly. I felt very over medicated. I stopped the Paxil and Xanax the first of Feb. (yes, I felt like I was living a nightmare and I strongly advise people to talk with your doctor first and wean off the meds slowly). Now, I have periods of mood swings that are very intense at times. My husband even made a comment during the last outburst, "Your mom's right...there is something wrong with you". It's like in that moment I have the shortest fuse and can't help what comes out of my mouth. I keep thinking maybe it is the delayed effects from stopping the Paxil...but it's been four and a half months. I have never heard of "Kepprage" until now. I surely don't want to go back on my "calming meds", but I hate to start over on a new seizure med as well.

I hated Keppra. I had the worst depression and anger I have ever felt. It was not the medicine for me. I hear it works great for some, but everyone should be aware of this side effect, before taking it. It was awful for me. After 3 days of weaning off and adding a new medicine I could already feel the difference.

I hated Keppra. I had the worst depression and anger I have ever felt. It was not the medicine for me. I hear it works great for some, but everyone should be aware of this side effect, before taking it. It was awful for me. After 3 days of weaning off and adding a new medicine I could already feel the difference.

For me the B6 eventually created a health issue and I quit taking B6. I have learned to keep myself calm and prevent as much kepprage as possible but without the B6 in the beginning it would have been too much to handle for me. Getting used to Keppra was rough, I spent 2hrs in bed after the second dose of the day.
I took B6 50mg 2x per day at the same time I take Keppra. The neurologist suggested not to exceed that limit due to potential side effects.

__________________"Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be shattered before being ascertained." - Vladimir Nabokov